Agricultural Economics Bureau Recommends Fertilizer Use Based on Soil Analysis for Wet Season Rice to Cut Costs and Boost Profits While Supporting Low-Carbon Agriculture

Peeraphun Khortong, Secretary-General of the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE), revealed that Thailand's agricultural sector must adapt to a low-carbon economy in response to climate change and increasingly stringent environmental trade requirements. The OAE conducted research on "incremental cost analysis for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in economic crop production (wet season rice)" to evaluate the economic viability of emissions reduction measures and support sustainable rice production policies using the BCG Economy Model.

The study, conducted by the OAE's agricultural economic offices 1-12, collected data from farmer interviews during the 2567/68 production year across 37 major rice-growing provinces nationwide. The sample consisted of 534 farmers total—267 conventional farmers and 267 using soil-analysis-based fertilization. Researchers employed marginal abatement cost (MAC) analysis to compare the economic value between both groups. The study found that wet season rice farmers face multiple pressures including rice price volatility and uncertainty, rice diseases and pests, climate conditions, drought, insufficient water, and rising production input costs, particularly expensive chemical fertilizers and seeds. Therefore, soil-analysis-based fertilizer application is an approach that addresses both cost reduction and increased production efficiency while reducing environmental impact.

Comparison between conventional and soil-analysis-based fertilizer users showed that soil analysis before fertilizer application helped farmers save an average of 145.62 baht per rai on fertilizer costs. Farmers using soil-analysis-based fertilization had total costs of 4,400.78 baht per rai, yields of 553.57 kilograms per rai, and returns of 6,105.88 baht per rai (based on wet season rice prices at 15% moisture averaging 11,030 baht per ton as of February-April 2568). They earned 1,705.10 baht profit per rai, or 3.08 baht per kilogram. Compared to conventional farmers, they had 5.24 percent lower costs, 3.41 percent higher yield per rai, and 31.06 percent higher profit per kilogram—demonstrating that this approach creates economic incentives for farmers to shift toward environmentally friendly production methods.

Regarding the environment, conventional farmers emitted an average of 854.64 kgCO₂e per rai in greenhouse gases, while soil-analysis-based farmers emitted only 787.98 kgCO₂e per rai—a reduction of 66.66 kgCO₂e per rai or 7.80 percent. Examining chemical fertilizer use, urea application produces carbon dioxide emissions; conventional farmers emitted an average of 12.68 kgCO₂e per rai compared to only 7.41 kgCO₂e per rai for soil-analysis-based farmers—41.56 percent lower. Nitrogen fertilizer use affects nitrous oxide emissions, with conventional farmers emitting 52.07 kgCO₂e per rai versus 33.20 kgCO₂e per rai for soil-analysis-based farmers—a reduction of 18.87 kgCO₂e per rai or 36.24 percent—because this approach selects fertilizer formulas and quantities that match crop requirements. From an environmental economics perspective, soil analysis before fertilizer application demonstrates cost-effectiveness in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.